


Lovesick the Beat Inside My Head

by goodnightPidge



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Loneliness, Muteness, Slow Build, Strangers to Lovers, slight PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 22:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15010340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodnightPidge/pseuds/goodnightPidge
Summary: In her old school, Mina was infamous for having an uncommon muteness disease to the point where no one dared to speak to her. To move away from this image, she moves to Korea to attend an astute international school and rebuild herself. She meets Yoo Jeongyeon and develops strong feelings for the popular classmate, but she continued to keep her muteness disability a secret. Mina is unsure of how long she can keep it a secret before anyone finds out.**(Title and Chapters based off of Oh Wonder Lyrics / Title Lyric: Oh Wonder - Ultralife)





	1. Heart Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Concepts: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s725/sh/3dce6724-f605-4273-b67f-7daaf5ee44e2/8914d75c7739f27a
> 
> (Adapts as story goes on. Looks better on the computer)  
> ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬  
> *Chapter Lyric: Oh Wonder - Heart Hope*

“.. and as for staff and students, about 75% of them are infact Korean speakers. We, however, have a wide range of diversity, as well.”

The new principal flashed a warming smile to the newcomers, with no care for whether the smile was reciprocated back; which it was not.

“There are people who have moved from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, America, and even from your home, Miss Myoui, that is Japan.”

The emphatic pause implied for a sort of exclamation or an approving nod. Mina, however, gave her new principal nothing as her mind was in outer space for all he needed to know. She instead focused on the emptiness of his office and how it could possibly reflect the inner heart of the school. Shallowness and empty words of encouragement seemed to be a running theme in Mina's life, especially in a high school environment.

The man continued to smile even as Mina refused to utter a single hum in response. Her mother spoke up for her instead, as usual, and replied to the man in English with her thick accent,

“We are very excited for what your international school has to offer for us. My daughter is very talented in many things and she even knows many English and Korean. She will study very hard in Korean, especially, to make your teaching efforts easier. My daughter is also interested in dance and I saw your program...”

... then Mina chose to block out any more of her mother’s boasting nature. Mina, instead, stared blankly at another ornament in the office. If it were up to Mina rather than her physical state, she would try and genuinely contribute to the conversation. It did get tiring having to stare holes into people instead of saying a polite hello, at times.

But her vocal cords were ruined for the day, and she solely blamed her start of the morning for this.

A coughing fit was what woke Mina up at 4 in the morning today, and it was not a pretty wakeup call, to say the least. Every heave and inhale was heavy with mucus and stomach acid, which pricked at Mina's throat like needles.

Her limbs then began to quiver and eventually failed to keep her upright, so her body resorted to laying down on the cold marble floor. Shortly after, the fit was then followed by an uncontrollable amount of blood spilling from her mouth, on to the floor. Her mother finally woke up after Mina called out weakly for some help. After about 30 minutes of her mother's consistent pattings on the back, her body came to a calm, ending with her face wet with sweat, tears, and spit.

When she attempted to voice a "thank you" to her mother, not a sound came out from her. Not even an exertion of air could have been heard: The final step of her morning disaster.

The kick was that all of this was nothing out of the ordinary. There were some days when Mina came out of the event, with still some speaking ability. And others, there was nothing.

Regardless, Mina already knew the procedure: every morning at around 5:30 AM, she suffers a replica of an experience in hell.

With her voice nearly hanging by a limb, she decided to not even utter a vowel for the day. She displayed her cold, distant persona often, so that people could not attempt to speak to her. Mina convinced herself that it was for the best.

It was just another day in a life of the mute teenager.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Today was the first day of attending the new international school.

The school differed from Mina's old high school in Japan in a couple of ways. There were truly a wide range of diverse kids from all over; the principal was not wrong about that. And it seemed like from the concentrated crowds of kids forming at the center of the cafeteria that the morning was the prime socializing period.

Mina became worried. It got exhausting having to hide in bathroom stalls and school rooftops all the time at her old school. If she didn't make atleast one social “friend” today, then where would she hide to avoid looking like a loner, is what she pondered. The thought of having to endure every morning with the lonesome company deathly frightened her. 

She decided not to entertain the thought any longer and tried to focus on the positives in front of her. Though international school differed from Japanese school in many ways, dress code however, was pretty much still the same in in terms of having to wear uniforms, but she didn't mind it much.

Mina had freedom to dress what she wanted for her first day; which she was thankful for since she got to wear her favorite pink, button-up blouse. Wearing it made her feel less anxious amongst a crowd of judgemental teenagers. She even dyed her hair a lighter brown and trimmed her length to about shoulder level aswell. Another way to refresh her image which too helped with the new era of growth. She was ready to become a new version of herself, starting today.

For once, she didn't feel like she was a freak with an extreme mute disability; which doctors can't even dictate what the disability even is. She felt like Spiderman, hiding a totally drastic side of her life - hiding her true self. No one knew and no one had to know.

Waiting by a vending machine outside the school, Mina spotted a short, slim girl looking through her phone from across the courtyard.

What caught Mina’s attention at first was the girl’s significantly long and wavy hair. Its color was a muted chocolate, and her unique appearance was fascinating.

Mina’s staring habit unfortunately cursed her as the stranger noticed the gaze. Suddenly, the shorter girl slowly walked torwards Mina, then waved in hesitation. Mina quirked a quick, nervous smile to the stranger, realizing that it must’ve been her guide for the day.

"Hello,"

The younger girl bowed down from her waist. Mina reciprocated.

"I'm assuming you are Myo...Myoui... Mina?" she asked as she pronounced as best as she could, reading from a slip of paper.

Mina nodded.

"Got it. My name is Son Chaeyoung. I'm the freshman class president and I will be your guide for the hour,"

Chaeyoung bowed once more, but slightly less deep this time and Mina recipricated once more. Mina was surprised to see a younger student being her guide; With large, cocoa eyes filled with youth, the girl appeared to be put-together and friendly.

Chaeyoung appeared to be talking a tad bit slower for her, which Mina saw as understandable.

"I'm going to just show you all of the classes that you're going to be attending for the year, but feel free to explore the school after 3:00 today,"

With no rush, Chaeyoung led Mina into the school and thus began her tour.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

When the two walked down to her last class on the list, Chaeyoung gradually came to a halt.

"So that's about it in terms of your classes. What do you think so far of this school?" Chaeyoung asked in a chirpy tone.

"Ah.. it's a very big school. I didn’t think it would have so many different classes," Mina gestured and Chaeyoung raised her eyebrows in peaked surprise.

Chaeyoung continued on professionally.

"Yes, yes. The founder of this school - everyone calls him JYP - well he spent a lot of time and investment into the building of the school. He's really passionate about our education and stuff. So you'll probably see him a lot during the year, just popping in to check up on our classes and stuff,"

The two started walking torwards Mina's first class of the day. Chaeyoung continued,

"JYP participates in our production-heavy, performance club too. He's actually our performance club's leader's uncle's best friend. Ah- sorry. That really was a lot of Korean right there,"

Mina giggled gently then replied,

"No it's okay. I understood,"

"Well, geez. Your Korean is really good then! You should have more confidence when you speak it!" Chaeyoung smiled, and Mina shook her head in modest denial.

"You should seriously check out our performance club too, if you ever get the chance. Do you like dance?"

Mina nodded with enthusiasm.

"Well, if you are ever bored, just stop by. By the way, here's your class,"

Mina thanked her as Chaeyoung continued past, and slid the door open.

And just from instinct, her shoulders sewed tight.

All eyes that were once occupied with various classroom activities were now convexed onto Mina's presence. A wave of sickness threatened to hit Mina, but she had to fight the urge to save any further attention.

Even standing in front of the door felt like a shameful act, and she felt like an alien just by existing. She ducked her head down but could barely even handle staring at the ground. Thankfully, the teacher saved her of the attention,

"Okay, settle down everyone. Our new student from Japan has just arrived our class. Listen up,"

The teacher then uttered to Mina in Korean, as she pointed to a spot infront of the class,

"Alright, could you please stand by this basket please. And just share a few things about yourself in your best Korean or English. Whichever you prefer,"

Mina waddled over to the desk, and as she walked, she heard few utterances in Korean (and some English) amongst the crowd.

"Her hair looks so soft,"

"Wow, she's super pretty,"

"The way she walks is adorable,"

Once she settled into her destined spot, she tried to fight a smile from cracking from all the positive comments. Once the teacher shushed the murmuring crowd however, nervousness grew larger within her once more. But this time, it was the killing sensation that Mina dreaded of experiencing everyday. Her throat choked her with the same needle-like sensation from the morning. Regardless, Mina's mouth opened..

..but before she spoke, she repeated a silent prayer in her mind,

Please. Please don't break now. I need my voice to speak to the class. I can't have people discovering who I really am, already.

And sounds came out. Perhaps not loud enough, but it was at least something,

"Hello everyone, my name is Myoui Mina. I am sixteen years old, and I was born in San Anton-"

"What is she saying?" an exclamation from the crowd broke out.

Mina paused. And for whatever reason, she boldly looked up at the populated class for the first time to identify the source of the exclamation.

In the farthest corner of the classroom, she spotted an ashy-blonde haired girl, with a hood over her head. The girl's facial expression was comical, but in context to the situation, Mina found it less than humorous.

Mina could not look at the girl any longer. A collection of giggles followed, which prompted Mina to stare back at the wooden floor in shame. It was back to square one.

The teacher joined in,

"Yoo Jeongyeon, could you please take off your hoodie, for the fifth time. And I'm sorry Miss Myoui, but could you repeat yourself with a louder tone this time?"

Mina changed her language to English, with her strongest tone that she could possibly manage, while also sounding as unenthusiastic as ever. She just wanted to get this moment over with,

"Hello, I'm Myoui Mina. Nice to meet you,"

Then followed an awkward silence and a few hesitant claps. The teacher no longer entertained the self-introduction torture, so she pointed torwards an empty seat for Mina to sit in for the rest of the year.

And it happened to be behind the girl who called her out before; behind Jeongyeon Yoo.

Mina sensed humiliation as being a reoccurring theme of her attending the new school.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

One thing that Mina enjoyed about her new school was that, for lunch time, the students could choose to either eat in the classroom or eat in the cafeteria. She was thankful for the autonomy, otherwise she'd have to suffer the worst thing about being a teenager: socializing. It was a hassle having to put herself out there to others, so the ability to remain in her own space was a dream come true.

So Mina sat and read up on the syllabus, as people scattered about in the class. Mina didn't fail to hear two pairs of heels approaching her. She lifted her head up.

Two presumably animated girls stood at the front of Mina's desk. One girl had champagne-blonde hair, while the other had shoulder length brunette hair, with bangs covering her forehead.

Mina sensed a common theme amongst the students. Frequent use of hair dye and special attention to exorbitant skincare. Both girls had an atmosphere that felt familiar to Mina for some odd reason.

The blonde girl spoke up,

"Hello. My name is Minazotaki Sana. Nice to meet you,"

... in Japanese which caught Mina off-guard, as she immediately recognized the Osaka accent.

"I'm Hirai Momo. Nice to meet you,"

Same followed for the other guest, except the other one was speaking in a more nasally voice.

The two bowed and Mina reciprocated as she spoke her introduction as well. That's all Mina thought the two had to say, but it seemed from the prolonged silence that the duo were expecting Mina to start a conversation. So Momo stepped in once more, still speaking Japanese,

"What kind of coffee do you enjoy drinking?"

Mina pondered,

"Hm.. Americano,"

Momo's eyes lit up,

"Well, every Monday they sell coffee in the cafeteria and thankfully they serve Americanos. Would you like me and Sana to buy you one?"

Mina nodded, basking in the random act of kindness that was casted upon her. As the two walked away from her desk, she observed the hooded girl from before -apparently named Jeongyeon- accompanied with another girl, with chest-nut colored hair. The two stand-byers were eating near the entrance of the classroom and had been observing from afar. As Sana and Momo walked near them, the group shared giggles and smiles.

Jeongyeon had apparently said something humourous by the way Momo shoved Jeongyeon in a playful manner and the other two hiccuped with amusement. Catching herself staring again, Mina focused back to her duties, failing to realize the stares that Jeongyeon sent back.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Forty minutes had passed, and Mina was just about done memorizing the school rules like it was the law. She had realized much earlier that many students had left the classroom, including Jeongyeon. So she felt less tense during her solitary lunch period.

Mina also had realized that in 5 minutes she would have to change classes, but she was still without her Americano. She pondered whether it would be rude to leave the classroom while Momo and Sana was still getting the drink.

Out of no where, Chaeyoung entered the classroom and gave her greetings to her superiors. She walked straight to Mina, and handed her a small poster, which read, "Performance Club Recruiting: Singing, Choreography, Stage Design, Advertising.. Room 34"

"So this is where the classroom is going to be after school today for a little meet and greet. Again, it'd be great if you'd be able to contribute,"

Mina smiled politely and felt slightly uncomfortable, holding the paper.

"I know dancing or singing in front of a thousand people doesn't seem like everyone's cup of tea, so if you felt more comfortable with the more technical stuff, or just recording our performances even, it'd be so helpful. Seriously," Chaeyoung sounded like she was nearly begging.

Mina softly thanked her then the younger girl left the classroom immediately. As Mina was just about to observe the paper given, she heard a high pitched whine from the hall, assuming it was Sana’s,

"Agh! Idiot! You almost made me spill Mina's Americano,"

From the call of her name, Mina immediately stood up from her desk to obtain the drink so it could no longer trouble Sana.

She sped walked to the entrance. Unfortunately, as she walked out, she was instantly met with a larger body colliding with hers and a splash of liquid flying all over.

There were gasps from every direction. Then it was quiet. Then Mina's body went cold at the realization of what she had just done, when her vision finally focused.

She had spilled coffee all over Jeongyeon's shoes and socks.

Mina heard Jeongyeon muffle out pathetically,

"My Frappuccino..."

Everything had happened so fast to where she instantly forgot about the Americano Sana had for Mina. She immediately dropped down to Jeongyeon's feet and motioned to wipe.

Mina apologized in her sincerest tone,

"I'm so very sorry. I.. I didn't mean for this to happen,"

There was no response. Without a second to waste, Mina sprung back up to rush over to the closest bathroom to find paper towels. With her body on autopilot and her cheeks flaming in embarrassment, she had a difficult time looking for a bathroom and just desperately wanted the embarrassing first day to end.

A minute passes.

Once Mina had finally found towels and returned to the classroom, she had realized that Jeongyeon was already off to her next class and was no longer there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading this chapter, you might've forgotten that this was a JeongMi fic. LET ME TELL YOU BUDDY, that when I say this is gonna be some slow build.... expect a sloooooooooow build. But anyway, I'm hoping to have about 13 chapter for this work so don't worry. Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Like Two Satellites in a Separate Orbit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Concepts: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s725/sh/3dce6724-f605-4273-b67f-7daaf5ee44e2/8914d75c7739f27a
> 
> (Adapts as story goes on. Looks better on the computer)  
> ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬  
> *Chapter Lyric: Oh Wonder - Heart Strings*

Jeongyeon daydreamed often, especially during conversations that would last for ages.

It was a bad habit of hers, she'll admit that much. But she simply argued that the reason being was just that the contents of her mind were much more entertaining. Most of the things that were bouncing around in her shell of a brain were either comebacks or opinions that were waiting to be unleashed; yet another bad habit was having a "big mouth" as Jihyo would say.

Sometimes even, in her daydreams, she is simply just planning her next task that would follow the conversation she was ignoring. And most of the time, those tasks involved food.

It was a given that during class when Jihyo was going over whatever their next performance song would be, Jeongyeon would be recalling that extravagant fish stew Seungyeon made last night instead.

Jihyo was unforgiving of the demeanor however, and dropped her tone to a slightly annoyed one,

"Why aren't you listening to me,"

Jeongyeon shrugged at the rhetorical question and swayed in forced excitement for the poor club leader,

"What do you mean? I'm obviously super excited for our club meeting after school. Even though I'm gonna have to face an angry Jackson tomorrow morning, complaining about how I don't hang out with him and his boyfriend anymore. Again,"

In temporary comfort, Jihyo rubbed on Jeongyeon's arm as she replied,

"I'm sure Jinyoung will be there to calm Jackson down, as he always does. But- I mean, Jackson should know that you are a part of the club, so he should have no reason to be asking to hangout after school anyways,"

Jeongyeon joked in a straightforward manner,

"Oh, I told him I'd leave the club,"

The hand that was once soothing Jeongyeon's arm engaged in a slap on Jeongyeon's wrist.

"Why would you say that? You're our co-leader! That seriously makes no sense,"

"I'm kidding, Jihyo. I would never leave the club that you and Nayeon created,"

"And the one that you created aswell, Jeongyeon. Don't forget that. So you should also start listening to me when I discuss important club details. Alright?"

Jeongyeon nodded, deciding to end the tease on Jihyo. And in stepped into the classroom Momo and Sana, arm in arm, with questionable jolly. As the pair approached, Jeongyeon asked,

"Where is all of this happiness coming from?"

Sana's eyes pinched as she unleashed a squeal. The ecstatic teen hopped around and failed to produce sounds that were actual Korean words. So Momo testified for her instead,

"It's that girl with the multi-colored hair that Sana likes. They talked for the first time and Sana gave her her number,"

Sana squealed once more and Jeongyeon swore her ears were experiencing ear drum trauma. Momo smiled unforgivingly. However, Jihyo scolded Sana for her volume,

And Jeongyeon stepped in,

"Isn't that girl also like fourteen? We're almost at the end of high school and you still prey on freshman,"

Sana shook her head violently,

"No! No, she's fifteen turning sixteen this year,"

The door opens and in comes Mrs. Kim with stacks worth of homework, which makes the girls end their gossip and return to their respective seats. But not until the teacher pointed out,

"Miss Yoo. Your hood. Down,"

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Fifteen minutes of idle classroom work passed, and Jeongyeon's hands were severely cramping from the chore. Mondays were undeniably slow, but she was thankful that the school served coffee during lunch for dozers like her.

A hazelnut frappucino was something she has listed as a drink to try at Starbucks, but she couldn't find the time (or the money *cough*) to try it yet. So she was thankful to hear about the dupe frappe that Youngjae added to the menu which went for less than 3000 won.

With her eyes solely focused on the ticking clock, she was close to zoning out for the fourth time that morning...

...Until the entrance door that had opened so suddenly shifted the energy in the air. Without a reason, Jeongyeon's limbs hardened in anticipation.

Her eyes landed on Espresso brown hair that cut to the top of the person’s shoulders and eyes so puppy-like and wistful. The stranger was the first true attention-grabbing sight Jeongyeon's eyes had landed on that morning.

She decided to verbally express her feelings, along with the sea of compliments thrown by others,

"Wow, she's super pretty,"

Jihyo turned to Jeongyeon and commented,

"She's our new student,"

Jeongyeon's eyes widened,

"Huh? We have a new student?"

"You were absent Friday when the teacher announced it,"

As Jeongyeon paid her attention back to the front of the classroom, she stuggled to comprehend what the new student had to say. She knew the girl was speaking but it was like trying to pick out noise in a muffled background. She couldn't even catch the intriguing girl's name.

Out of impulsive frustration, Jeongyeon vented out, initially aimed torwards Jihyo,

"What is she saying?"

And it had seemed that from the girl's abrupt silence that Jeongyeon's voice was much louder than she had intended it being. Giggles broke out from all over the classroom, but from the slap received on the wrist from Jihyo yet again, what she just did was not worth the laughter. Staring at the new girl's hint of expression, she could tell that the girl was a bit more timid and hesitant in speech; which Jeongyeon understood since she was foreign.

What she had just did to the poor girl made Jeongyeon mentally smack herself in the face.

She heard a brief command from the teacher, telling the new girl to sit in the seat behind Jeongyeon. The girl that had appeared to have such a captivating energy upon her arrival was a sight Jeongyeon ended up avoiding. Atleast for now.

Guilt had ran through her veins for the embarrassment she casted on the new girl. She planned to apologize eventually but not when Jeongyeon is still recovering herself. Awkwardly, they sat in silence throughout the entire class.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"So after we went to the aquarium, he took me to get some takoyaki at this Japanese restaurant and it was so good. I didn't think I'd like it that much, but Jaebum is really good at convincing me.."

Jihyo had gradually silenced herself as she had noticed Jeongyeon's attention completely turned away from her; a key signal that Jeongyeon was zoning out.

"Is my voice that annoying to you?"

Jeongyeon giggled to Jihyo as a way to reassure her, but Jihyo was not convinced,

"You're not talking to me about club activities, so I just assumed listening to you talk about your boyfriend was optional,"

Jihyo sighed,

"I can't wait until Nayeon gets back from Thailand. She'd listen to me talk her ear off,"

Jeongyeon physically shuddered hearing the name of the mentioned girl. But she chose not to open her big mouth to express any dismay this time around.

There was a period of silence, but it gave Jeongyeon a moment to wander her eyes back to the new girl. Sana and Momo were currently speaking to her in Japanese, with their loud and pitchy voices Jeongyeon might add.

Still struggling to hear the stranger's voice, Jeongyeon shook her head with a pout. She was then reminded of something else that was very important,

"So what's the new girl's name? I couldn't hear it before,"

Jihyo replied unenthusiastically,

"Well that was made obvious thirty minutes ago, but it's Myoui Mina,"

Again, staring once more, Mina had probably said about five words at most to the two chirpy Japanese girls. It alerted Jeongyeon that maybe she wasn't the talking type, a hard shell to crack.

Momo called out as the pair returned back to the front of the class,

"Okay, you guys ready to go?"

And Jeongyeon teasingly commented as everyone made a move to the door,

"Mina must've really wanted you to leave her alone by that short conversation. Work on your charisma, Momo,"

Jihyo and Sana laughed in a light-hearted manner, but Momo stood with a child-like frown as she smacked Jeongyeon's arm. It had seemed that everyone's favorite place to hit was her arm these days.

As their group settled down and conversed about minor details, Jeongyeon thought back about how the name "Mina" made a sweet sound to her ears. It was a simple yet cute name for such a minimalistic girl.

Jeongyeon felt a stare boring down her direction. She looked back to see Mina's head tilting down just in time. The sway of her silky hair, just added on to the elegant image Mina radiated. Jeongyeon took a very long moment, just watching Mina. It wasn't until Sana called out that it was time to leave when Jeongyeon took her focus off; which was probably one of the hardest things she had to do.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

The group was almost late to their next class, and Jeongyeon solely blamed the long line full of freshman for this. Somehow, the girls were able to squeeze in time to return back to their class so that Sana could give the drink to Mina.

Jeongyeon was just excited to finally try the frappuccino she'd been meaning to taste for months.

In front of them, Jeongyeon spotted Jackson standing near the classroom door.

A rough growl called out to Sana, who was approaching the classroom door,

"Aww Sana. A drink for me?"

Jackson then made an attempt to grab at one of the drinks as a joke, and Sana violently pulled back from him,

"Agh! Idiot! You almost made me spill Mina's Americano,"

With a humorous shock on his face, Jackson backed off and bowed in apologies. His attention turned to Jeongyeon, and he declared as he walked off,

"Hey Jeongyeon, you're gonna miss our Chinese culture class. You better hurry,"

And with that, she picked up her speed to the door.

In a quick second, she was next met with a smaller figure squishing into her with a matched urgent speed. The frappucino had fallen to the ground and her eyes followed the contents going everywhere. Her brain shut down as she was stunned....

...And devastated.

"My frappucino.."

Next thing she heard was Momo and Sana holding back uncomfortable laughter. Jeongyeon was just stuck there in time.

All of the sudden, a crouching Mina came into view which took Jeongyeon by surprise for a moment. She had momentarily forgotten that this all happened because someone had bumped into her.

And that someone just so happened to be Mina.

"I'm so very sorry. I.. I didn't mean for this to happen."

A voice so breathy and soft that she almost didn't catch Mina speaking. It was the first time Jeongyeon has ever heard her speak.

Next moment, without another word, the girl stood up and dashed to the hall. Jeongyeon was confused as to if she made the girl cry. Before Jeongyeon could mentally smack herself again, Jihyo pulled out her personal hankerchief to wipe down Jeongyeon's shoes and urged her to leave for their next class.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Okay, reminder girls that for this upcoming performance tomorrow, we're going to do a short version of 'Do it Again' during lunch, since we are without Nayeon,"

Gathered in the club room, the small crowd nodded in unison as Jihyo continued to go down important technical details,

"And as for Jeongyeon, I'm gonna need you to fill in singing the 'ore gidaryeosseo' part with me for Nayeon,"

Jeongyeon shrunk,

"But then I have the whole chorus to sing directly after your lines,"

Sana contributed,

"You complain about not singing enough and now you're complaining about actually singing this time,"

Jeongyeon visibly relaxed,

"Pfft, you're right,"

Jeongyeon then went back to shaking energetically in excitement. As always, a day before any showcase, big or small, it always felt like it was the first time she was performing. The buzzing nerves, and the crushing anxiety of messing up or embarrassing herself horribly was what she adored the most.

Jihyo continued on,

"And Tzuyu, since you're new, we'll just have you dance the small parts we taught you,"

Tzuyu nodded. Then Chaeyoung added,

"I also invited that new girl to join, Myoui Mina. I think she'd be good in terms of PR since we need more of that,"

With a raised eyebrow of skepticism, Jeongyeon interrupted,

"Why not just let her sing or dance? I heard from the guys that she was a ballet dancer or something like that. And she might actually be a good singer too,"

Chaeyoung was slightly taken a-back but replied,

"Well obviously it's her choice, but she kind of looked turned off by the idea of it when I first introduced it. But she could totally perform with us though,"

Still in minor dispute, Jeongyeon decided to let the issue go and continued to listen to their leader’s rundown.

Once Jihyo finished all of her directions, Momo swiftly brought her hand up. Jihyo responded,

“Question?”

“Yeah. Will I finally get my dance solo in the next performance?”

The small group sighed in unison as this was most likely Momo’s tenth time asking this year alone. Jihyo continued on,

“Alright ladies. Let’s run through the choreo a few more times before we end this meeting,”

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Jeongyeon had finished saying her goodbyes to the club members as the after school dismissal bell rang. For one reason or another, it had felt like the day truly dragged on and she was ready to rest her eyes for the day. After she finished her homework ofcourse; something she hopes she'll have the energy to even look at.

Upon walking torwards the parking lot to wait for Seungyeon, she managed to spot Mina once again. She was sitting on a bench looking through her phone, not aware of her surroundings.

Jeongyeon had decided that it was time to finally apologize for her behavior in the beginning of the day. Jeongyeon is going to work on her social skills and learn to keep her voice shut from this day on.

She had drawn attention to herself once she walked torwards the sitting girl. Mina dragged her eyes away from her phone and onto Jeongyeon's face.

Before Jeongyeon could even begin her apology, the sitting girl stood up instantly. Jeongyeon became scared for a moment thinking that the girl was going to run away again. And before Jeongyeon could muster up a sentence to stop the girl, Mina spoke up instead,

"I sincerely apologize for what I did to your shoes this morning. I know how costly fashion pieces can be in Korea. Especially shoes. I will certainly pay for them if it isn't an issue,"

With a hesitant bow, Mina ended her sentence appearing to expect some sort of insult by the way her face crumbled in fear.

In all honesty, Jeongyeon had completely forgotten about the unfortunate passing of her frappuccino. The whole event honestly happened in a blink of an eye. Though it was heartbreaking to say the least, it was just a normal routine for Jeongyeon to run into situations where things just don't go her way. And at the same time, it truly wasn't that big of a deal, even for her clothes. But she understood where Mina was coming from.

However, Jeongyeon was partially saddened at the way she, herself, caused fear onto the foreign girl. So instead, Jeongyeon went about the gesture in a lighthearted tone,

"Please don't feel so bad. I've been wearing these shoes for five years now, and my sister nags at me all the time about buying some new shoes anyways. So if anything, you just motivated me to buy shoes sooner,"

Mina nodded then continued to stare at the ground as she nervously fiddled with her hands. Jeongyeon decided to change the subject as she didn't know how else to end the silence,

"I heard you were a ballet dancer,"

Jeongyeon heard a quiet squeak come out of Mina,

"Oh. Well.. yeah,"

Jeongyeon hesitantly asked,

"And can you sing as well?"

"Ah- only around my personal surroundings,"

"You should really give the performance club a try then. It gives a lot of members confidence about their image and it could be a good place to meet new friends,"

Jeongyeon gave Mina her best smile, even though Mina wasn't maintaining the best eye contact in the world. And for a moment, Jeongyeon saw a change in her expression; like an epiphany had abruptly came up in the girl's mind. But from the way the face slowly went back to it's normal, distressed state, Jeongyeon wasn't expecting the best answer.

And that Jeongyeon got.

"I have thought a lot about this performance club this whole day, but I came to the conclusion that it just isn't for people like me. I...I don't have the best voice,"

Jeongyeon wanted to urge her more to join but then she took a step back and realized that Mina was right.

The club really isn't for everyone and she agreed upon that. So with that Jeongyeon gave her goodbyes and hesitantly walked off, leaving the silent girl all by herself once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize! I'm such a slow writer. I hope to become better in the future (T____T)


	3. I'm Pulling Down Stars Just to Make You Glow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Concepts: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s725/sh/3dce6724-f605-4273-b67f-7daaf5ee44e2/8914d75c7739f27a
> 
> (Adapts as story goes on. Looks better on the computer)  
> ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬  
> *Chapter Lyric: Oh Wonder - Overgrown* (I LOVE THIS SONG)

When Mina had just turned eleven years old, she was at the end of her elementary years; Possibly one of the more "louder" times of her life.

Many could describe her as constantly verbal and ecstatic when it came to her and schoolwork. Homework was always her number one priority, and she took pride in the comments she recieved from teachers, parents, and even other kids. She was always at the very top, and was given many rewards as a young child. To her, success made her feel like she was a champion, and she never wanted it to go away.

Additionally, she took immense amounts of pride in her ballet since she was just starting off then. She often stayed up late in the night practicing just one section of her dances, by her own force. It was the only way success would come to her, Mina learned.

She often got praise, but a lot of the time she also got insults and criticism thrown at her. But she quickly became used to the harshness as she expected, from a young age, that she wanted to be a performer on stage and was told that criticism came with it.

Without a doubt, her parents and Mina herself was excited for her future far ahead.

From the sense of maturity and assurance during her youth, many adults went as far as to believe that Mina was a prodigy. Her heart was full of drive and passion that she certainly did not see an end to the road of growth any time soon.

It wasn't until Mina threw up on stage, during a very important recital in front of her friends and family, her downfall began.

Her father, being an experienced doctor, merely brushed it off as a bad lunch at the time and reassured that it was nothing to sweat over.

Mina wasn't so sure of it. She had noticed right after the event that her throat compressed into what Mina felt like the size of a dime, and a harsh swell leftover inside her neck. There was hardly any room left for a whisper.

She slept it off, as would any parent should tell their child to cheer them up. But it was only the beginning of what would be her current daily routine.

The following day, Mina could not utter a word. Teachers became worried for her, as Mina was usually confident in answering questions thrown to the class. But when Mina slumped in the corner of the classroom, choking as she teared up silently, teachers immediately realized that there was something terribly wrong.

As if it were yesterday, Mina never forgets her first visit to the doctor. The scene of that particular visit was one she had never experienced during any of her past minuscule appointments.

Flustered nurses. Repeated phrases. Unsure glances.

It wasn't until six hours later, of sitting in a hospital bed and running various tests, was when the doctor finally came with a conclusion, ending all suspense.

The answer was not what she had been expecting.

It was hard listening to the doctor explaining everything to her mother, as he was stuttering on big words and had to repeat himself a lot. Instead, Mina focused on her mother's gesture the entire time, since it was the only thing she could understand.

The doctor had said a particular phrase that created a dense silence in the room. It must've lasted a full minute. Either that or time had stopped.

When her mother finally settled back into her seat, fingers suddenly interlacing with Mina's, her mother ducked her head in distress and let the wet droplets slide off onto her dress. Mina then began to cry at the scene of her mother crying.

And that was the exact moment when Mina could see a shadowed wall in the distance, possibly putting an end to her biggest dreams.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

In Korea, doctor's appointments were hardly any different from Japan. The cold seat in the doctor's office was a familiar touch. The scent of too many unknown chemicals swarming the air was as pungent as ever. The white walls closing her in was something she hardly missed.

It was usually the medication Mina was given for the month that differed from her hospital visits. This month, with her new doctor, he described the side effects as being slightly drastic, but "should lessen the intensity of her throat attacks"; a new name for the rare condition made up on the spot by the doctor.

Ofcourse Mina hadn't expected any doctor in Korea to discover anything new, since her disease was truly unheard of.

Everything led to a dead end. She quickly gave up at the age of fourteen for any sign of hope for her recovery.

Mina went through the first year of middle school with no communication to any of her classmates or teachers. She stayed after school to obtain special lessons for topics she didn't know very well but even during those sessions, she wrote her questions down. She was almost completely mute throughout all of middle school and half of highschool.

But her parents never stopped the appointments. They couldn't stop, and Mina knew that very well. But it pained her every single time her father had to pull out his wallet to pay for the heavy hospital costs. Or when her mother complained on the phone to her older brother, Kai, about bills and financial worries.

It seemed never ending, the pain. She felt as if she were a burden and constantly wished she could stop living this way. But the pills and blatantly useless medical check ups were all that she had left.

Her options were limited.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

For lunchtime, Mrs. Kim had to leave the school to attend to some errands, so the students were forced to eat in the cafeteria for the day. The lunchroom wasn't as dreadful as Mina had imagined, There were two-seaters along the walls, which were perfect for her to stay as far away from any center of attention.

As Mina munched on her obento and tried her hardest not to focus too much on the talkative teenagers, a peppy voice calls out to her,

"Hey Mina, mind if I accompany for you a bit?"

With surprise, she looked up to see Jeon Somi; a pale skinned, foreign-eyed freshman. Though Somi is only a freshman, she often comes in to the junior class during lunch to chat with the Performance Club clique. If it weren't for the girls constantly chanting Somi's name as they conversed, Mina wouldn't have known her name as well.

Mina shook her head, allowing Somi to sit with her. Somi began,

"Sorry, it's just I'm waiting for the girls to show up and I don't feel like sitting with any loud groups. So I'm just gonna chill here,"

When Mina quirked a polite smile to the freshman, with nothing to add on, Somi spoke up,

"So, are you excited?"

Mina sewed her eyebrows in confusion,

"For what? If I may ask,"

Somi continued apologetically,

"Ah.. sorry. You're new, I forgot. But basically the Performance Club is going to perform for the first time in a while. I'm their videographer and PR person, so I'm supposed to hype people up. But everyone usually gets really excited for their performances anyways,"

Mina took all the information in and looked around the cafeteria as the crowds of people gradually turned torwards the empty stage, already anticipating an entrance. She was surprised of how popular the group really was,

"Are they really good?"

Somi widened her eyes in hardly contained excitement,

"Ooooh yeah. They make their own songs, have a professional choreographer, have a lot of subscribers on YouTube, thanks to my video skills. I mean... let's just say that they take this club a lot more seriously than all the other clubs in this school. Especially JYP,"

Somi pulled out an expensive camera as she continued,

"I really wanted to be a performer in the group, but my dad wants me to get a scholarship for my Taekwondo instead when we move back to Canada. So he told me to focus more on the Taekwondo club,"

With a bitter tone, Somi continued on,

"But it's okay.. I just take separate dance lessons from time to time to make up for it.. and I am still a part of the club, in a way..."

Mina vaguely saw herself in the younger girl. A girl with dreams that were shut down too early, too quick. She offered her best words of advice to the freshman, words she would've wanted to hear if she was in Somi's position,

"I'm sure you would've blown everyone away with your talent. There is always college and many things after high school, so don't give up on what you really want,"

Somi flashed a cheery smile as she replied,

"Aw, thank you so much. That's so nice of you,"

As the two reveled in the positive energy, a loud shout from the crowd erupts, presumably from Jackson; yet another student, who was a senior, that likes to come by her junior classroom often.

"Woohoooo! Everyone, shut up. It's our Golden Girls coming onto the staaaaage,"

Mina spotted the male jumping around, hyping up various table groups. Nearly all of them matched the energy of Jackson, which baffled Mina more than anything else.

Immediately, Somi groaned torwards the excited boy,

"Jackson always does my job better than I do, and he's not even in the club! I gotta go, the show's about to start. It was nice talking to you,”

Somi urgently skipped torwards the murmuring crowd, almost tripping over her own shoes as she went. The lights in the cafeteria were dimmed into a gray scene. Lights on the stage, being the only source of temporary light, shined onto Mina's classmate, Park Jihyo.

Jihyo cheesed as she announced,

"Hello students, for today we will only be showcasing one song, as a preview into our next grand show coming up. Give us your best chants and enjoy this performance!"

Claps and whistles went torwards Jihyo and Mina viewed girls from a lot of her classes walking onto the stage: Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Tzuyu, Momo, Sana, and Jeongyeon.

Their outfits were coordinated by both color and style: yellow and white cheerleader outfits. Who stood out the most for Mina, however, was Jihyo and Jeongyeon, showcasing a hint of blue in their socks and arm bands.

When the loud bump from the stereo broke the silence accompanied by a cheerful melody, the girls suddenly broke form and started to act childish and free; Chaeyoung and Dahyun playing the air guitar to each other, Momo and Sana waving their head and hands around, Tzuyu and Jihyo fake punching each other, and Jeongyeon in the center, nodding her head intensely with no care as to how strange her facial expressions were.

Mina was intially caught off guard of how silly the performance started off, yet the squad still being undoubtedly insync with the beat.

Then suddenly, Jihyo ended their foolish act with a clear shout,

"You ready, girls?"

And all the members lined up as Jihyo exuded her charisma, and finally moving in captivating sync. Each girl showcasing a different interpretation of the attitude of the song through their matched movements: bold, perky, mischevious, naughty even.

In moments of the song where each member had an individual part, it truly felt like Mina was at a concert. The crowd screaming out for each girl, chanting their names, as they went down with their part.

Tzuyu started it off. Next Dahyun ended it with a soft adlib.

Then came Jeongyeon's part which erupted the more louder of shouts; more from girls.

Mina's ears listened in on the pure brassy texture of Jeongyeon's sound. It was clear, stable, and confident. And all of that didn't even compare to the sass Jeongyeon popped as she pushed her hip to one side and the other. Jihyo slowly joined with her unique technique, but the chime leftover from Jeongyeon still resonated with Mina.

The chorus came and Jeongyeon came in, taking over the whole twenty seconds; hardly giving Mina a chance to recover. Jeongyeon's voice was something she has never experienced in real life before. A story was told through her voice, and Mina experienced what Jeongyeon was portraying at that moment:

A bold and fearless aura, with a sense of holding nothing back, which is what Mina wishes she had within her.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Mina sat on a bench near the parking lot as she scrolled through her messages sent by her mother. Her mother didn't usually take this long to pick Mina, the exception being her first day of school. 30 long minutes had passed after the dismissal rang.

She didn't mind it much. Just another moment of her day to unwind. Her phone dimming to around 15%, she decided to put the device down and take in the sight of the idle scenery. And though all was quiet for a good moment, it all ended with chattering voices coming from the school entrance. Mina could now immediately recognize the source without a question; it being the voices of Jeongyeon and Jihyo.

"-in his car. You forget things in there. All. The. Time," She heard Jihyo comment,

Then a groan from Jeongyeon,

"She is going to kill me if I don't find that lip stick,"

"Next time, don't be last minute before our performances then maybe you'd be more organized,"

" _You're_ the one telling me to be organized,"

As the duo approached past Mina, Jihyo shot her usual friendly smile to Mina from the distance then quickly attended back to their conversation. Mina's shoulders tensed up at the sudden communication.

On the tip of Mina's tongue, there was something she wanted to discuss to the two classmates. Something she had thought of last minute and rather suddenly. Mina stood up and adjusted her clothes, taking a lengthy amount of time doing so.

She knew she was stalling, for herself. Half of her knew that she might be setting herself up for failure. And the other half of her was certain that this might've been a life changing opportunity for Mina. And she was dying for any sort of light in her life to appear, once again. So she stepped torwards the direction of the pair as she softly called out,

"Ah.. Park Jihyo. Yoo Jeongyeon,"

The two turned back quickly, shocked to hear the timid girl speak in the rare occasion. Jeongyeon promptly neared to Mina and called out,

"Yes?"

As the two stared at Mina, she rubbed her hands in trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. It was a big decision she was making and she was close to backtracking. She could've easily shook her head, and say "never mind". It's what she wanted to do, for the most part. It's what her brain was saying.

But the chamber in her chest was much louder to her actions. And Mina obeyed.

She heard Jihyo sounding worried as she asked if something was wrong. But Mina finally tended, from inner thoughts, back to the duo with her declaration,

"Is it too late for me to sign up for the Performance Club?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was a shorter chapter, since the past few ones were a bit lengthy. But I chose to use this chapter to elaborate more on how serious Mina's condition is! (FYI: It's a made up disease I am portraying in purpose for the story. I am no medical expert lmaao. Pls don't slice me). Anywho, what a turn of events! Let's see how Mina's going to be able to handle her voice, with being in the Performance Club!  
> **  
> INCASE, some people were really confused during the performance scene, this is the link to the actual TWICE performance I'm referencing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXw04pIlP5g (with some differences ofcourse).


	4. Stole My Mind and Found My Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo. I'm sorry for the delay! I just wanted to say that I have been going through major life changes as of late (: I'm serving in the military right now so I was going through that whole process last year. So now that I'm finally slowing down in my pace, I now have free time to write. So I'm going to try my very best to be constant with my updates now that more people are starting to see this fic. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I've had this written for MONTHS now but I never finished it up. Butttt here you go!  
> ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬  
> *Chapter Lyric: Oh Wonder - Heartstrings*

"Okay. Everyone, let's review over our English grammar workbooks,"

Mrs. Lee gestured to the classroom as everyone pulled out their materials. 

As Mina waited for the next instruction, she looked over her already completed worksheets, checking the sentences she easily marked over the night before.

It was certainly not a requirement for the class to be ahead of any lessons, but Mrs. Lee never discouraged anyone for doing so. It was just more time taken out of the day for homework that Mina suspected no one else wanted to endure.

But she didn't mind, since she didn't have much to do in her life anyways.

Well, that's certainly not the case now that she had joined the famous Performance Club; a constant reminder Mina has to give herself. Mina insured to nevertheless stay on top of her school work while also being occupied with her new after school involvement. She knew it was going to be a long school year of afterschool meetings, learning new skills, and just trying to build her self image into a semi-confident one. 

Just imagining her first meeting with the pretty club members gave a giddy tickle in Mina's chest that she couldn't quite get over. 

It was a mixture of excitement and dread. Nevertheless, the day was almost over, being the last class for the day and her giddiness has yet ceased to end. 

As Mina looked up at the teacher once more, she spotted Jeongyeon infront of her quietly (yet, not quietly enough) cursing at herself. It seemed evident that Jeongyeon could not find the workbook required for class.

Jihyo noticed and commented,

"Unnie, you really don't need the workbook today. She's just going over easy stuff like dashes and hyphens,"

Jeongyeon whipped her head to Jihyo, with a dramatic expression, as she uttered,

"I didn't look over the material last night. I was too tired from doing Mr. Wooyoung’s Business Math homework,"

Jihyo groaned and looked back to Mina as she retorted,

"You hear her? This girl needs some life therapy,"

With a swift head turn, Jeongyeon looked back at Mina as well, as she denied,

"Ah, don't listen to her. I have it all under control,"

Mina giggled back softly at Jeongyeon's apparent stress-mode. After Jihyo turned back around, it was a natural moment for the short bicker to end. 

But for a long moment, Jeongyeon stayed in her position, longingly taking in Mina’s pale expression. The contact was unwavering and Mina was shy of the spotlight shone on her; sought only by Jeongyeon. 

Instead of being her usual awkward self, Mina decided to be upfront and smiled, with no eye contact given to Jeongyeon, as she teased,

"Don't you have a lesson to pay attention to? Since you didn't look over material last night and all.."

Jeongyeon snorted a brief chuckle,

"Okay. Sassy Mina,"

Mina flashed her gums as she snickered back. The teacher wasn't satisfied with the quarrel however, and interrupted,

"So, in accordance to today's lesson Miss Yoo Jeongyeon, when you have a word that is incomplete by not enough space on the page, would you use a dash or a hyphen?"

Heads turned to Jeongyeon. The girl in question quickly twisted back to the front of the class, as she fake-pondered for a moment.

Jihyo was staring at Jeongyeon with a look of embarressment, and Mina could only imagine how red Jeongyeon's cheeks were. Mina was very close to whispering the answer to Jeongyeon as the silence was prolonged for much too long. But Jeongyeon eventually answered, with shallow confidence,

"Dash?"

Then a few snickers erupted, which followed with Park Jimin answering with the right answer instead. Jeongyeon visually seemed more upset for her own lack of knowledge,

She sighed,

"I wish I actually understood our lessons sometimes. My English grade is seriously so bad, all of my classes in general. I've been getting too many Cs,"

Jihyo whispered back,

"Well, just get a super smart friend to voluntarily tutor you until exams. Right after our dance practices, have them meet at a cafe' and look over material for an hour,"

Tutoring never crossed Jeongyeon's mind of her three years of attending high school and it gave her a little sense of hope to her English grade. She opens her mouth, but Jihyo doesn't give her a chance to finish,

"-But, don't ask me to tutor you though. I've got enough to worry about,"

Jeongyeon sighed in defeat, blatantly ignoring Jihyo's self compliment, as her first choice was indeed Jihyo. 

The girls in her club were something else when it came to common sense, let alone some being lower in class with no knowledge of her Junior year material. So she gave them a pass for her tutoring request.

She momentarily considered Park Jinyoung, an old friend of hers from junior high, but she knew he spends all of his breathing time with Jackson instead.

Jeongyeon then thought to ask the brainiac himself, Im Jaebum but was then quickly reminded that he was often occupied with Jihyo.

Jeongyeon didn’t even consider Mark as an option, being that he is practically glued to the hip with Youngjae since the beginning of the year.

She quickly became annoyed at how many of her smart friends have love interests now. Seeming stuck and out of viable options, Jeongyeon limply decided to let the issue go and scrape by with her pitiful C's. A future involving college was too far out of her mental range anyways, Jeongyeon decided, considering a future in professional babysitting instead.

She continued to rot in her own sorrow until a low whisper was heard from behind her,

"I overheard... your conversation. And... I can tutor you, if you'd like me to,"

At the sound of those words, Jeongyeon believed that she was in the presence of an actual angel.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

For Mina, the first day of the club was challenging, to say the least. 

Thankfully, she joined right in time, when the girls just began a new dance to learn. She was surprised with how accurate and quick the girls were with learning the choreography the first time, as if they have been doing the steps since birth.

Though Mina had a specialty in ballet, she has not taken part in any sort of activity in quite some time. The lacking behind the girls went unnoticed, as no one seemed to realize the slight slowness in Mina's moves. The choreography was all fast paced, and Momo endlessly counted on with no faltering move as Mina tried her best to keep up. When Momo counted, "1..2..3..4," Mina's mind was still trying to remember the transitions from step 1 to step 2 for the remainder.

She wanted to find the confidence in her to open her mouth and ask the girls to slow down.

But, in a moment of reigning distress, her larynx tightened. And momentarily disallowed the ability to speak. As she stepped into the final formation for the tenth time, she missed the right step, just like her past attempts.

Mina didn't let the tears drop but instead wore a fake smile as the girls would celebrate and get excited for their hardwork.

"New image. Remember. Confident image,"

When the girls went to pack up to leave, Mina's larynx finally relaxed but she decided to stay quiet of her issue, regardless.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

At class dismissal, Mina walked back to her apartment now as her mother had encouraged her to do so. Her mother believed that staying fit is important, now being in the Performance Club. And Mina agreed.

Staying fit was an essential part to showing yourself off to your peers, so Mina agreed that walking the short mile to her house wasn't a terrible idea. It allowed her the time to take in the grey skies of Seoul and the icy breeze that came with it. 

And the activity also allowed her time to think.

She knew that giving up so early on in the start of the club would be unacceptable to her classmates, as many of them highly supported the idea of her joining. But Mina didn't have an easy time adapting to the pace of the club. She was in a tough position.

Either way, In the neighborhood Mina was wandering around, the streets were empty except for a few random ramyeon shops and worn down 7/11's. Mina entered into the small 7/11 in search of some banana milk as a reward for the hard work she exerted that afternoon. 

She wasn't too fond of Korea's snacks or foods yet, but she knows she just hasn't searched hard enough for her preferences. It just wasn't like Japanese snacks, but Mina just make did and stayed with simple stuff to accompany her cravings for now.

Upon entering, she unexpectedly caught sight of Jeongyeon.

She was wearing an oversized blue bomber jacket with a purple beanie to compliment. Her eyes were trained hard on a selection of drinks; which Mina thought she looked kind of cute, as Jeongyeon pouted decisively.

When the bell ringed of Mina's arrival, Jeongyeon twisted her head torwards the entrance and made an "O" with her mouth.

"Oh! Mina-ya," 

Mina's eyes widened at the informal speech aimed torwards her. It didn't offend her in the slightest, but she was still surprised to see that Jeongyeon was able to throw the informalness so early into just getting to know each other.

The simple gesture had Mina folding in her lips to prevent a cheesy smile from showing. It made her very happy.

Jeongyeon approached the younger and sparked up a conversation, ignoring the fact that she was now speaking informally,

"How'd you like practice today?"

Mina coughed a fake laugh,

"Ah, it was... definitely new,"

Jeongyeon retorted, in what appeared to be slight concern,

"New, but fun?"

There was a moment of silence between the pair. Mina's mind traveled back to the terror and pure embarrassment she felt of being out of place. Clearly lacking in learning the steps effectively, and not showing her full capability of dance. But she felt that relaying the information to the borderline-stranger (excusing the informality) would be seen as whiny. So Mina lied, her specialty,

"Yes, it was really fun getting to learn the new material with you guys,"

It wasn't. She wanted to disappear from the world whenever she noticed that she was out of step. But Mina continued to flash minimal teeth to Jeongyeon.

It was silent between the pair again, for a moment. Mina looked up at Jeongyeon's unreadable expression. But the other eventually decided to speak up, in favor of changing the subject,

"What kind of food do you like eating after school? I know lunch was a long time ago, so you must be kind of hungry,"

Mina pondered for a moment then responded easily,

"I would usually eat Melon-pan... which is what we had in Japan. But I haven't had too much time to explore a lot of Korea's options yet. So I don't really know."

Jeongyeon's eyebrow quirked in wonder; possibly thinking about what exactly a Melon Pan is, Mina decided. 

Before Mina could spout out a generic Korean snack in favor of filling the awkward silence, Jeongyeon heels turned. She continued to walk down to an unseen corner of the store, leaving behind a confused Mina. She wasn't sure whether she should follow the girl, but opted to just vaguely skim through the aisles as she waited.

When Jeongyeon came back to tap Mina on the shoulder, she noticed the older holding a batch of Japanese packaged melon breads. The older shared,

"Sometimes the 7/11's near the city area will carry Japanese imports for the tourists. So this might be what you're talking about? No?"

Mina looked up at Jeongyeon in awe. She didn't know how to properly respond, except with a hesitant nod.

Jeongyeon's eyes brightened as she enthusiastically nodded back,

"Okay. Give me a second,"

Mina smiled back and walked back out of the store to wait for the excited girl. When Jeongyeon came out, Mina was handed a large bag full of around ten melon pans. Mina almost had the urge to return the bag as she felt bad for the trouble.

Jeongyeon could already read her mind and landed her hand on top of Mina's to stop her from extending. She muttered,

"Don't even try it, Mina. This is gonna be my way of thanking you for the future tutor lessons. I mean, I wasn't just going to take your services and time for free now,"

Mina bowed as she sang,

"Thank you so mu-,"

"Please don't do that around me anymore,"

Mina looked back at the senior in horror, but the expression on Jeongyeon was far from negative. The usual smile instead,

"No more bowing. It makes me uncomfortable. I want you to see me as your friend from now on, ok?"

With matched delight Mina nodded. The two went their separate ways afterwards, leaving Mina in a state of exhilaration as she trotted her way back to the empty apartment building.


	5. Dazzle Me, Dazzle Me With Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Concepts: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s725/sh/3dce6724-f605-4273-b67f-7daaf5ee44e2/8914d75c7739f27a  
> (Adapts as story goes on. Looks better on the computer)  
> ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬  
> *Chapter Lyric: Oh Wonder - Dazzle*

If Mina had to be honest, besides her physical disabilities, she was emotionally no different from any other 16 year old in the world.

As much as the girl loved to learn and expand her common knowledge, the eagerness of having to study and looking over class material in her spare time was definitely not there most of the time.

But, over the past month, a certain troubled classmate of hers has made the job of looking over class material a billion times easier.

Rather, the eagerness to study always seemed to sprout once 3 o'clock struck after school and the messages from Jeongyeon would flood her phone. 

The first tutoring session Mina held back in January, when she was still fairly new to the school, was an extensive session. Mostly because Mina assisted Jeongyeon in every subject, however, Jeongyeon always seemed to take the longest in learning physics. The girl would ask questions frequently. Most times Mina would be able to help accordingly, but at times when she herself didn't know the correct answer, the two would go over the material and figure it out together. No matter how many hours were eaten up.

Eventually, the sessions went by faster and lasted shorter than the first meeting. It was because of Jeongyeon's fast improvement where Mina no longer worried about Jeongyeon's grade, as it increased dramatically.

"Dramatically" Jeongyeon claims with a C+ average, being it previously a D average, but Mina was elated of the older's commitment regardless. And though Mina never seemed to struggle as much as Jeongyeon did, the brushing up on class material definitely didn't hurt her performance in school.

The more interesting moments would be when Jeongyeon would go totally off-topic of their material and just question Mina about random things about her life. She no longer called Jeongyeon a borderline-stranger when Jeongyeon knew how many digimon cards Mina owned in middle school. Or how Mina learned how to make ketchup by watching random American programs when she visited San Antonio. Irrelevant, unimportant pieces of information Mina never shared to anyone because she never thought anyone would care.

But Jeongyeon did. Any sound Mina would utter, whisper, giggle, Jeongyeon always had her attention on the quiet girl, regardless of the situation. And the feeling Mina had in her chest when she noticed the first time was far from normal. It was nothing like the emotional pain she endured on her own, but an excited jump in her pulse.

She never seemed to notice this feeling being around anyone else. Not with her classmates in Japan, her family, her "friends." Mina assumed it being the excitement of finding someone who understood her more than the average acquaintance. A best friend, maybe, if that wasn't too far.

Whatever it was, Mina was just glad that she felt less alone at school. Knowing how popular Jeongyeon was, however, made Mina feel a little less important though.

Jeongyeon is one of the leaders for the Performance Club, constantly talking to all of the members and showing equal attention to each, even outside of school. Mina also found out that the older also took part in track, being the leader for the school's sprinting unit. And in general, Jeongyeon will talk to anyone who had a beating heart, starting conversations with her undeniable charm. Thus her list of connections was endless, compared to Mina's very short one. 

Though Jeongyeon was arguably the closest peer Mina has ever had, the mute girl never shared her grand secret to the older. She hoped that it never came down to the older knowing, ever. She wants to save herself the shame and embarrassment of having to be a pity-friend to Jeongyeon, having the idea that Mina was a mute freak linger in the back of her head until Jeongyeon eventually gives up on her.

And Mina was tired of being a hopeless case.

So, Mina decided that she's survived a whole month of covering up the truth for long enough. Why not take it to the grave? It had obviously worked for long, so she needs to keep up her "normal girl" image if she wants to keep things the way they are.

And she currently liked the special connection she had with Yoo Jeongyeon.

Mina didn't like being hopeful and feeding into ideas that may not appear to be true. But she only hoped that Jeongyeon felt the same when it came to the importance of their friendship... 

..As Mina has never fully connected with anyone like this before...

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"...So when I told my dad that I didn't know why my bike was missing both of its tires, he didn't even bother to buy new ones. We just left it in our driveway for like three more years,"

Jeongyeon continued to ramble on to Mina as they continued to ignore the dull text in their Physics books. It was after school Friday in the empty club room, where the two decided to hang out for the day. Mina considered it a hangout, as the two repeated important formulas to each other, ending their session in about five minutes.

Jeongyeon's head rested on her hand, supported by her elbow leaning on the head of the chair. Her legs were crossed, torso completely turned torwards to Mina. And Mina subconsciously mirrored the pose of the older. It was unbelievable how fast Jeongyeon was able to get Mina comfortable around Jeongyeon. 

The tension from the first month of knowing the older definitely shifted, and Mina was thankful as she began to learn about the interesting character that was Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon continued,

"I just gave up on the bike eventually and would steal my sister's longboard to get around. But then I got into a lot of accidents, so I would get scratches like these-"

The older slightly raised her skirt, revealing a faded mark on her tanned thigh. Mina felt a heat rise up to her face and felt instant shame for staring for a second too long.

Mina looked back up at the older. She finished her anecdote and Mina commented,

"I would injure myself all the time because of ballet. It wasn't many scratches, but there were a lot of injuries on my feet,"

Jeongyeon huffed as she replied,

"Sorry that our choreography doesn't involve a lot of ballet by the way. But you should be thankful, cause, not going to point out who in particular, but some girls will just look like this if they did ballet-"

The older stood up and went to do a bad attempt at a grand jete across the room. Mina instantly exploded in a fit of laughter, softly rocking herself forward as Jeongyeon hopped about. 

When the entertainment died down, Jeongyeon sat back down next to Mina with a wide grin.

"You sound so different when you're laughing,"

Mina hiccupped back as she tried to stop the giggles,

"Aha. What do you.. mean?"

Jeongyeon stared back but replied,

"I don't know.. just relaxed. You sound happier and more... I don't know how to explain it,"

The two momentarily stared blankly at each other, in a struggle to find a way to change subjects. Mina didn't know how to feel about the "happier" comment. She didn't notice that she appeared miserable at school. She considered she may have to try a little harder with her image.

The silence was broken by Jeongyeon eventually as she asked,

"Are you ready for our Valentines Day performance tomorrow? It's gonna be no dancing, which I'm for sure happy about,"

Mina smiled back, fondly thinking back to the song that meant a lot to her, Granted her dancing had gotten much better over the weeks of constant practice, as predicted by Jihyo when Mina had implied her dilmena to the leader one day. One thing she wasn't so confident in was her stage presence, still not fully convincing, as she has heard a few classmates comment.

So, taking a break from the critical world of showbiz, Mina was excited for the performance where they just got to sit down and pour their feelings out in lyrical form. Mina was very fond of the lyrics she was given, finding a sense of relevance to it for a reason Mina can't seem to figure out...

♪ I like your familiar feeling. I like your awkward way of talking. How about you? What do you think of me? Answer me...

Would you be my love? Say yeah. Say yes..♪

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a fairly short chapter, showing how Mina's feelings are starting to develop a bit more.... but she has no idea what's going on with her! (It's okay Mina, we've all been there). Ah, what a stressful situation, huh? :) Expect things to pickup on the next upcoming chapters. Gonna be a ride, that's for sure. Thank you so much for reading this chapter!


End file.
